Psalms 84:6

Psalm 84:6 . Who passing — Or, being used to pass; for he seems not to speak of one particular act, but of a common course or custom; through the valley of Baca — A place so called, which some Jewish and other writers affirm to have been a very dry place, and therefore incommodious for travellers in those hot countries, and in hot seasons. Which place may be here mentioned, not exclusively of other ways; for this highway being but one, and on one side of Jerusalem, could not be a general way for all the Israelites thither; but synecdochically for all places of like nature, which made their journey to Jerusalem unpleasant or inconvenient. But their zeal for God’s service did easily overcome this and other difficulties. Or the clause may be rendered, the valley of tears, as this valley might be called, for the trouble or vexation which travellers found there by reason of drought, or other inconveniences. Make it a well — Or, wells; that is, they dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. This trouble they willingly undertook, rather than to neglect the opportunity of going up to Jerusalem at their solemn times. And possibly they did this, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of other travellers who came after them; whereby they showed both their piety and charity. The rain also filleth the pools — God recompenseth their diligence in making pits, or cisterns, with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled, and the thirsty travellers refreshed.

It may be proper to inform the reader, that the words may be rendered more agreeably to the Hebrew text, yea, or also pools, or cisterns; that is, they make pools or cisterns, which the rain filleth, or, may fill; which may receive and keep the rain that God sendeth for the refreshment of these travellers, whose great numbers made the provision of water more necessary. But it is not necessary to understand this, and the foregoing clause, of what these passengers did for their own use, as they travelled through this, or such like places; but it may be meant of what pious persons had done before that time; who, having their hearts set upon God’s house, and the ways leading to it, and being desirous to advance the worship of God, and to encourage the people to come to Jerusalem, endeavoured to make those ways easy and convenient; and particularly because those eastern countries were hot and dry, and springs of water were scarce there.

(6) Who passing through the valley of Baca. —All the ancient versions have “valley of weeping,” which, through the Vulg. vallis lacrymosa, has passed into the religious language of Europe as a synonym for life. And Baca ( bākha ) seems to have this signification, whatever origin we give the word. The valley has been variously identified—with the valley of Achor ( Hosea 2:15 ; Joshua 7:24 ); the valley of Rephaim ( 2Samuel 5:22 )—a valley found by Burckhardt in the neighbourhood of Sinai; and one, more recently, by Renan, the last station of the present caravan route from the north to Jerusalem. Of these, the valley of Rephaim is most probably in the poet’s mind, since it is described ( Isaiah 17:5 ) as sterile, and as the text stands, we think of some place devoid of water, but which the courage and faith of the pilgrims treats as if it were well supplied with that indispensable requisite, thus turning adversity itself into a blessing. He either plays on the sound of the word ( Baca, and becaîm ) or the exudations of the balsam shrub gave the valley its name. The rain also filleth the pools.—That rain is the right rendering of the Hebrew word here appears from Joel 2:23. The rendering pools follows the reading, berechóth; but the text has berachóth, “blessings,” as read by the LXX. and generally adopted now.

Verse 6. - Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a wall; rather, through the valley of weeping ( τὴν κοιλάδα τοῦ κλαυθμῶνος , LXX.). So Hupfeld. Hengstenberg, Kay, and the Revised Version; compare Hosea's "valley of Achor," i.e. "of Grief." When the righteous pass through a time of suffering or calamity, they turn it into a time of refreshment. The rain also filleth the pools; rather, the early rain ( Joel 2:23 ) covereth it with blessings. The rain of God's grace mantles all the valley with a luxuriant vegetation; in other words, the blessing of God rests on those who act as above described, and causes them ever to increase in righteousness and true holiness. Psalm 84:6

Passing; or, being used to pass ; for he seems not to speak of one particular act, but of a common course or custom. Baca; a place, so called, which some Jewish and other writers affirm to have been a very dry place, and therefore incommodious for travellers in those hot countries, and in hot seasons; which place may be here mentioned not exclusively to other ways and passages, for this highway being but one, and on one side of Jerusalem, could not be a general way for all the Israelites thither, but synecdochically for all places of like nature, which made their journey to Jerusalem unpleasant or inconvenient. But their zeal for God’s service did easily overcome this and other difficulties. Or, the valley of tears , as this valley might be called, for the trouble or vexation which travellers found there by reason of drought, or otherwise. A well, or wells , i.e. they dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. This trouble they willingly undertook rather than to neglect the opportunity of going up to Jerusalem at their solemn times. And possibly they did this, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of other travellers who came after them; whereby they showed both their piety and charity. The rain also filleth the pools; God recompenseth their diligence in making pits, or little pools, or cisterns with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled, and the thirsty travellers refreshed.

Possibly the words may be thus rendered, which is more agreeable to the order of the Hebrew text, yea , or also , (and so the Hebrew particle gam hath that emphasis which, as some learned interpreters observe, is not given to it in other translations; they do not only make little pits or wells, as it was now said, but also,) pools or cisterns (for this Hebrew word is by the learned rendered both ways) which (so the relative particle is to be understood, as it is very frequently in many texts of Scripture) the rain filleth , or may fill , i.e. which may receive and keep the rain which God sendeth for the refreshment of these travellers, whose great numbers made the provision of water more necessary.

6. valley of Baca—or, "weeping." Through such, by reason of their dry and barren condition, the worshippers often had to pass to Jerusalem. As they might become wells, or fountains, or pools, supplied by refreshing rain, so the grace of God, by the exercises of His worship, refreshes and revives the hearts of His people, so that for sorrows they have "rivers of delight" (Ps 36:8; 46:4).

6 . Passing through the vale of Baca they make it a place of springs, Yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings. The word Baca is derived from the root which means to weep , but it nowhere means weeping , for which words of a different form are used. Here, as in 2 Samuel 5:23 , it probably denotes some kind of balsam-tree, so called from the ‘tears’ of gum which it exudes. The vale of Baca or the balsam-trees was some vale which, like the vale of Elah or the terebinth ( 1 Samuel 17:2 ), and the vale of Shittim or acacias, took its name from the trees which grew there. Balsam-trees are said to love dry situations, growing plentifully for example in the arid valley of Mecca; and this is clearly the point of the reference. The vale of Baca was some waterless and barren valley through which pilgrims passed on their way to Jerusalem; but faith turns it into a place of springs, finding refreshment under the most untoward circumstances, while God refreshes them with showers of blessing from above, as the autumnal rains clothe the dry plains with grass and flowers. Cp. Isaiah 35:1 ff., Isaiah 35:6 ff.; Isaiah 41:18 ff.; and see Tristram’s Natural Hist. of the Bible , pp. 30, 455, for a graphic description of the marvellous way in which the rains in Palestine transform the country from a brown and dusty desert to a lovely garden. Once more we have to note the singularly bold use of metaphor which is characteristic of this poet.

The familiar phrase ‘the vale of tears’ comes from the Vulg. vallis lacrimarum , and it is possible that such an allusion to the derivation of the word is intended. It is natural to regard the pilgrim’s experience as a parable of the pilgrimage of life, but this secondary application must not be allowed to supersede the original meaning. This verse has suffered a strange fate in translation. The English Versions follow Jewish authorities in taking berâchôth as the plural of berçchâh , ‘a pool,’ not, as it must be, of berâchâh , ‘blessing.’ The LXX renders. The lawgiver shall give blessings , taking môreh to be connected with tôrâh , law: and similarly Jerome, The teacher shall be clothed with blessing , a rendering followed by Luther.